From an expert: Creating PDF files from within Acrobat

Convert a file to PDF using Acrobat menu commands

Choose Create > PDF From File to quickly create a PDF file from an existing document.

In the Open dialog box, select the file that you want to convert. You can browse all file types or select a specific type from the Files Of Type menu.

Acrobat shows all Microsoft Word documents in the selected folder.

Optionally, click Settings to change the conversion options if you're converting an image file to PDF. The options available vary depending on the file type.

Note:

The Settings button is unavailable if you choose All Files as the file type or if no conversion settings are available for the selected file type. (For example, the Settings button is unavailable for Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel files.)

Click Open to convert the file to a PDF.

Depending on the type of file being converted, the authoring application opens automatically, or a progress dialog box appears. If the file is in an unsupported format, a message appears, telling you that the file cannot be converted to PDF.

When the new PDF opens, choose File > Save or File
> Save As; then select a name and location
for the PDF.

Note:

When naming a PDF that’s intended for
electronic distribution, limit the filename to eight characters
(with no spaces) and include the .pdf extension. This action ensures
that email programs or network servers don’t truncate the filename and
that the PDF opens as expected.

Drag-and-drop to create PDFs

This method is best reserved for small, simple
files, such as small image files and plain text files, when the
balance between file size and output quality is not important. You
can use this technique with many other types of files, but you won’t
have the opportunity to adjust any conversion settings during the
process.

Select the icons of one or more files in the Windows Explorer or Mac OS Finder.

Drag the file icons onto the Acrobat application icon.
Or (Windows only) drag the files into the open Acrobat window.

If a message appears saying that the file could not
be opened in Acrobat, then that file type cannot be converted to
PDF by the drag-and-drop method. Use one of the other conversion
methods for that file.

Note:

You can also convert PostScript and EPS files to PDF by dragging them onto the Acrobat window or the Acrobat application icon.

Save the PDF.

Note:

(Windows only) You can also right-click
a file in Windows Explorer and choose Convert
to Adobe PDF.

Convert clipboard content to PDF

You can create PDFs from
text and images that you copy from applications on Mac
OS or Windows.

Capture content in the Clipboard:

Use the copy command in the applications.

Press the PrintScreen key (Windows).

Use the Grab utility (Applications > Utilities > Grab), and choose Edit > Copy to place the content on the clipboard. (Mac OS)

Select objects using the Edit Object tool (Tools > Print Production > Edit Object), and then copy the selected objects.

Use the Edit Object tool when you want to copy selected objects.

Note:

The Tools panel doesn't display Print Production by default. Choose Print Production from the options menu in the upper-right corner of the Tools panel.

In Acrobat, choose File > Create
> PDF from Clipboard.

Note:

The PDF from Clipboard command appears only when
content is copied to the Clipboard. If the Clipboard is empty, the
command is disabled.

Create a blank PDF

You can create a blank PDF, rather than beginning with a file, a clipboard image, or scanning.

This process can be useful for creating a one-page PDF. For longer, more complex, or heavily formatted documents, it’s better to create the source document in an application that offers more layout and formatting options, such as Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Word.

A blank single-page PDF is created. Using Insert Blank
Page command again adds another page to the existing PDF.

Create multiple PDFs from multiple
files (Acrobat Pro)

You can create multiple PDFs from multiple
native files, including files of different supported formats, in
one operation. This method is useful when you must convert a large
number of files to PDF.

Note:

When you use this method, Acrobat
applies the most recently used conversion settings without offering
you access to those settings. If you want to adjust the conversion
settings, do so before using this method.

Choose File > Create > Batch Create Multiple
Files.

Choose Add Files > Add
Files or Add Folders, and then
select the files or folder.

Click Add Files in the Batch Create Multiple Files dialog box, then choose the files that you want to convert to PDF.